Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday signed a bill to vacate all eight seats on Tennessee State University’s board and named replacements hours after the legislation officially passed the House.
Also on Thursday morning, the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's office released three new audits of TSU. One was an independent forensic audit undertaken by CliftonLarsonAllen over a four-year period from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2023.
CLA did not find evidence of “fraud or malfeasance by executive leadership, the University or the TSU Foundation.” It did include 57 observations and 60 recommendations for the university’s monetary responsibilities.
Following ongoing financial issue, bills would vacate the school’s board and turn control over to the state
The university issued a statement in response: “TSU finds the report’s observations and recommendations to be helpful as we continue to improve our business operations, but it must be stressed this forensic audit firm was retained specifically to determine if TSU had committed fraud or malfeasance.”
The university also addressed the comptroller office's other two audits. In an audit of the 2022 fiscal year, the office included nine findings related to lack of oversight for finances, and at least three findings have been previously reported in other audits. The audit of the state itself for FY23 includes six findings in relation to how the university handles federal grant awards for students' financial aid.
“These findings in this report cover a period that began in 2021, and do not reflect the substantial improvements that TSU has made to its business operations over the past two years, and gives the impression that TSU is committing the same infractions in the present, which is not the case,” reads TSU's statement. “Additionally, the audits do not mention the gross underfunding of TSU. Moreover, the audits do not support any of the allegations that had been brought forward as the basis to dissolve the TSU Board of Trustees.”
What’s Next
The previous board consisted of Deborah Cole, Stephen Corbeil, Van Pinnock, Richard Lewis, Pam Martin, Obie McKenzie, Andre Johnson and Joseph Walker III. Faculty trustee William Johnson and student trustee Shaun Wimberly were also removed. The new board will pick the student representative, and the TSU Faculty Senate will choose its new representation.
Lee’s eight new picks are all TSU graduates: Trevia Chatman, president, Bank of America Memphis; Jeffery Norfleet, provost and vice president for administration, Shorter College; Marquita Qualls, founder and principal, Entropia Consulting; Terica Smith, deputy mayor and director of human resources, Madison County; Charles Traughber, general counsel, division of real estate, retail, and financial services at Bridgestone Americas; Dwayne Tucker, CEO of LEAD Public Schools; Kevin Williams, president and CEO of GAA Manufacturing; and Dakasha Winton, senior vice president and chief government relations officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
The university released a statement after the bill's passage in the House but before the governor’s announcement: “We believe this legislation will disrupt our students’ educational pursuits, harm the image of the University, and remove a Board that had achieved success in its enhanced governance of TSU.”
The change comes as TSU searches for a new president following Glenda Glover's announcement that she will retire at the end of this school year.
TSU alumni and lawmakers gathered after the House session on Thursday morning to speak about their support for the university.
Glover's announcement follows a critical report regarding financial issues at the school
Barry Barlow, a member of the Save TSU Community Coalition, spoke at a press conference after the vote, saying he will pray for the Tennessee General Assembly that God would “move you out of our way.”
“Somebody better tell them, just like the honorable John Robert Lewis, get ready for us, we are getting ready to bring you ‘good trouble,’” Barlow said.
Trouble on the Floor
The vote in the House was not passed without some uproar. Originally in the House Government Operations Committee, an amendment was passed to vacate only three of the eight board seats. But as soon as the amendment was brought to the floor for discussion, the vice chair of the committee, Rep. Jay Reedy (R-Erin), withdrew the amendment. Objections were made, but with a vote along party lines, it was removed from consideration.
When the members moved on to discuss the bill, Rep. Harold Love (D-Nashville), a TSU graduate wearing a shirt bearing the school's name, spoke first. He noted the fact that TSU had been historically underfunded and said he had planned to come back this session and help get the university more of the funds it was owed, but instead he had to discuss a different topic.
“I found myself in conversations about boards and audits," Love said. "And every time I was in a conversation about boards and audits and the money, I was always told that the legislature wanted to do what was best for the university. I would hope that if we choose to vote on this particular bill and choose to vacate this board, that this body would use the same determination, the same fierceness, same fervor and same excitement to come back and fund the university properly.”
Rep. Harold Love in January 2024
Love asked the sponsor of the bill, Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Hill), if he would consider the amendment the body's members had planned to vote on from the committee.
Ragan said because the amendment was voted down, it would take a motion to reconsider action to entertain the idea. However, when Love made that motion, the House clerk clarified that because it was withdrawn, a new amendment would need to be filed. That started a chain reaction of moves to delay the bill.
House Minority Leader Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) recommended rolling the bill to have time to file the amendment. There was an objection to the motion, and along party lines the House voted not to allow time to file. Clemmons then moved to re-refer the bill to the Calendar and Rules Committee, an attempt often made to delay a vote. There were objections and the same party-line vote occurred. Love spoke up to re-refer the bill to the Government Operations Committee. With objection once again, the motion failed — with the Republican majority once again stonewalling the attempt to delay the vote.
All the back-and-forth gave Love just enough time to file a new amendment to the bill — the amendment approved in the committee that had previously been withdrawn by the House. While five Republicans voted with the Democrats — Rep. Sam Whitson (R-Franklin), Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson), Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston), Rep. Ron Gant (R-Piperton) and Rep. Hurt (R-Halls) — it was not enough to pass the amendment.
Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) spoke up during discussion of the bill.
“There was an attempt or compromise that was sought to be made,” Pearson said. “People here talk about teamwork and bipartisanship, and there was an agreement. ... But instead of doing that, we are now seeking to dismantle the entire board for the only public HBCU in our state. This is wrong and immoral. This perpetuates the racism of previous generations into legislation today.”
In response to Pearson, Ragan said the Democratic Party was “in control” of the state government during the period of underfunding that prompted Pearson’s immediate outcry. There was an inquiry by Barrett about whether Rule 19 would apply to the outburst, and he ultimately made a motion to call Pearson to order.
Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) then told his Republican colleagues that even though he knows they are well-intentioned, the optics are not good.
“If you can’t look at this and see that the optics of what you’re doing today is awful, you need to take your blinders off,” Mitchell said. “I’m helping you out here because I know many of you, and no one should accuse you of being anything but coming up here to serve to the best of your ability. But you’re driving off the cliff right now.”
Mitchell said he served in the Government Operations Committee for many years as a staffer and saw several audits of state universities that were “horrendous.”
Federal data states that TSU has been shorted more than $2 billion
“Have we ever vacated an entire board of a university before?” Mitchell said. “But an HBCU that we owe $2 billion to? ‘Oh, yeah. We’re going to take their board.’”
Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) also pointed out he had never seen an entire board removal. Ragan countered by saying it has been done before. Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) also made the claim that removing an entire board is something that has previously been done.
Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville), who received a master’s degree from TSU, made a point to note the impact that underfunding would have on TSU’s ability to provide adequate student housing for an influx of students, which he noted a previous audit mentioned. He added that there were other universities in audits with the same problem, but that TSU was the only university with its board being vacated.
This year’s freshman class is Tennessee State University’s largest ever — and many students are living in hotels
“Legislation to vacate this board is going to set a very dangerous precedent,” Powell said. “The next step is that THEC is going to have to control the board, and they’ll prepare to do that. [TSU’s board] is in the middle of a presidential search. … This is going to be a complete disruption to the university.”
Rep. Sam McKenzie (D-Knoxville) mentioned his support for the University of Tennessee but pointed out — to Powell’s mention of housing — that there was a disparity between the support for UT’s use of hotels as dorms and criticism of TSU’s same practice.
McKenzie brought up yet another compromise: An amendment would vacate five members of the board. That vote received some Republican support, but ultimately it also failed.
Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County) motioned to move the bill forward to a vote, ending debate. The House voted 66-25 to vacate all eight seats of Tennessee State University’s board. (The Senate had passed its version 25-6 on March 21.) Lee soon signed the bill and named his board appointments.
A version of this article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
